


Jayne's Secret Contributions

by Selenic



Category: Firefly
Genre: Gen, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 11:22:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5705827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selenic/pseuds/Selenic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mal and Zoe find out about Jayne's secret contributions... :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jayne's Secret Contributions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [millygal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/millygal/gifts).



> A while back millygal and I did a prompt exchange, and even though I got an idea right away, getting the story done took some time. What better reason than her birthday to finally finish this little fic ^_^ The prompt was: Jayne has a good habit that no-one knows about, and this is my take on it. Hope you enjoy! Unbetad, all mistakes are mine.
> 
>  
> 
> Crossposted [on LJ](http://selenic76.livejournal.com/93517.html)

 

Jayne's Secret Contributions

 

"I wonder what he does with all of them?" Zoe pondered aloud as she leaned against one of the heavy cargo crates they'd just strapped down to the deck of Serenity. This one contained perfectly legal supplies, unlike all the small ones hidden safely away from view.

"Damned if I know," Mal replied, and joined her side. "I asked him once and he just mumbled something about spare parts for Vera and the others. But I know he doesn't keep 'em all, or we'd be knee deep in junk by now."

They both crossed their arms over their chests, and watched with keen interest as Jayne sat on the deck and went through his pile of 'loot'—a varied assortment of more or less useless or broken guns, parts and ammunition. Occasionally a wide grin would split Jayne's face, and he would swear happily, other times he'd frown and spit out a litany of angry profanities. The large mountain of junk was slowly getting divided into several smaller ones according to parameters known only to Jayne.

"Can't see them being worth much either, so there's no profit," Zoe noted thoughtfully. "You think he's finally gotten one too many blows to the head?"

"Nah, too thick-skulled for that," Mal replied, but instead of his mouth forming the usual smirk that would accompany such sentences, it remained a serious, straight line and his brow furrowed. "Though there is something very unnerving about the possibility of Jayne not thinking of profit..."

"It's a secret," River suddenly announced from the top of the crate, and to their credit, Mal and Zoe hardly flinched anymore. They glanced at each other, as much concerned over the fact that they were actually getting used to River sneaking up on them as over Jayne's odd behaviour.

Looking up, they found River smiling widely as she peered down over the edge of the crate. "He gives them to children. Followed him once, to a place that is a home to children who have no home. But you're not supposed to know." The last bit was whispered conspiratorially, and then River giggled.

"He does what!?!" Mal and Zoe both shouted, loud enough to alert Jayne who lifted his head just in time to see the pair turn to give him an angry look.

"What?" Jayne asked warily, clearly trying hard not to seem guilty of anything, at least not anything he wasn't supposed to be guilty of considering the heist they'd just pulled off. "Is there something on my face or why are y'all staring at me like that?"

"You give used up, broken guns to _orphans_?" Zoe asked in a stern voice.

"No!" Jayne denied fervently. "What kind of an idiot you take me for?" He sounded almost offended by such accusations. "I fix them first!"

"Like that makes thing better somehow?" Zoe said as she and the captain strode over to him. They stopped to loom over Jayne, glowering at him and obviously expecting some sort of an explanation—and it had better be a good one too.

"Well they sell for more that way," Jayne muttered, cringing just a little under the shade of the two angry figures. The captain and Zoe leaned in just a little closer.

"You _sell_ guns to orphans?" Mal asked, in that polite way he used when he was just about to kick Jayne's ass off the ship, for whatever reason happened to apply at the time. To the captain's surprise, Jayne blushed, as if actually embarrassed. He bowed his head and mumbled something.

"I didn't quite catch that," Mal said deceptively softly, but sharp the look in his eyes could have pierced right through Jayne, the deck, and the hull.

"He said it's none of your gorram business," River told the captain as she appeared from behind him, and began circling the assortment of gun parts. "Secret, remember." She briefly crouched down by one of the piles and picked something up, then reached for another part and started fitting them together. River started to dance gracefully from pile to pile, slender hands picking up things and working swiftly to assemble something, distracting everyone for a moment.

Mal and Zoe watched with horrified fascination as she completed the weapon, one not the likes of any they had seen before. Knowing River, it would be both unique, and in working condition. The look on Jayne's face was one of pure awe.

"But you got it all wrong," River said as she admired the finished piece with clear satisfaction, pointing it at a distant wall and tilting her head a bit, perhaps to check the aim, perhaps contemplating what size of a hole the weapon would make if fired. "Jayne fixes guns, gives them as a present to the woman who is a mother to the children that have no parents, and _she_ sells them." River then nodded approvingly and handed the weapon to Jayne, who accepted it more than willingly and with a gleam in his eye, and they both smiled, disturbingly similarly.

"That's gonna fetch a good price, Em's gonna love it," Jayne said as he turned the gun around his hands. "She might soon have enough credits saved up to buy a nicer place for the kids. It' ain't right, them living packed in like rats like that." Something else was slowly turning too, namely the cogwheels of thought in the heads of Mal and Zoe as they processed the information.

"You mean you collect all this junk," Zoe said uncertainly, as if still not sure she'd understood things correctly, "build working weapons out of them, then donate them to an orphanage for... charity?"

"Tiān fān dì fù," Mal exhaled the words out quietly. "As I live and breathe, never thought I'd see this day coming. Jayne doing something good for others and expecting no reward." He sounded as if he half expected the world to come to an end at any minute. "But why? You're usually the taking type, not the giving." Jayne turned even redder than before, but his jaw tightened in defiance.

"'Cause my mum says you've gotta take care of them children who ain't as fortunate as me to have a loving home and family," he blurted out, and then glared at the others with all the righteous indignation he could muster while clutching the newly-made weapon to his chest. "And 'cause it's the right thing to do."

Mal and Zoe both suddenly burst out laughing, curling double until they couldn't stand and ending up sitting on the floor beside the grumpy man. River was dancing around them, already scouting parts for another creation and humming happily.

"If you knew my mum, you wouldn't be laughing," Jayne grumbled sulkily.

"Your mum," Mal said between fits of fading laughter as he tried to calm down, "must be one hell of a woman."

"And very proud of her son no doubt," Zoe added after she got her breath back, and smiled widely, but not mockingly. "Want us to give you a hand with this?" she asked, reaching out to fiddle with one of the piles and picking up a piece for inspection. Jayne hesitated for a moment.

"Only if you promise not to tell anyone. Could ruin a man's reputation if something like this got out into the wrong ears."

"We promise," Mal said with every attempt to sound serious even though his mouth was still twitching at the corners. "You have my word as the captain, and I'll make sure the others won't be spreading around such unflattering rumours." That seemed to satisfy Jayne, as he nodded and set the gun in his hand on an empty patch of the deck, starting a fresh pile.

"You can help in puttin' them together, I'll check your work and clean and oil the guns later. Can't trust you to get things right, it's a delicate job that requires special knowledge and years of experience." That earned Jayne a few minor chuckles, but both the captain and Zoe nodded.

"Another!" River announced happily, and lay a second fully compiled gun in Jayne's new pile. "Simon should be here, he loves puzzles too." Then she twirled around and headed towards the infirmary before Jayne could stop her.

"Aw hell, she's gonna tell the preacher too, isn't she," Jayne groaned woefully. " _And_ Kaylee, and _she's_ gonna blabber about it to Inara. None of 'em better not talk of this to outsiders if they know what's good for them..."

"Well, the more the merrier I suppose," Mal replied, completely ignoring Jayne's discontent. "And I'm sure Em and the kids will appreciate their efforts," He was already busy working with Zoe to put together—not with the speed and grace that River possessed but with a slow certainty—something that would become another money-maker for the orphanage.

The universe worked in curious and surprising ways, Mal thought, but with Jayne it often had to. And who was he to argue when the results were, for the most part at least, good.

 

~~~ End ~~~

 


End file.
